REVIEWS / WINDOWS / MCAFEE

McAfee Family Protection Software

25 Jul, 2011, 4:58 pm IST | by Karan Shah | Windows

Windows

User Log Chart

User Log Chart
McAfee's new Family Protection Software
Extreme monitoring: YouTube blocked
Settings and customizations
Social Networking options
Administrator Access

PRICE IN INDIA

2,270

TECH2 RATING

6.5

AVERAGE USER RATING

7.5

How we test

CONTACT

McAfee

  Lubna_markar@McAfee.com

 +91 22 4029 1300

 http://www.mcafee.com/us/about-us.aspx

With the widespread advantage and learning curve that the Internet provides, it has become a pre-requisite in every household. It does have an equally powerful potential to wreak havoc for children, too, with increasing reports of online child abuse, adult content sites, security threats and so on. For families, this could actually hamper a child’s development and nurturing and hence software that could help monitor Internet activities could be beneficial.

 

 

McAfee has come out with the McAfee Family Protection software that provides Internet activity monitoring. But is this software good enough to protect your child from all the objectionable content currently present on the Internet? Read on to find out.

McAfee's new Family Protection Software

McAfee's new Family Protection Software

 

 

Interface

The McAfee Family Protection software has a simple and easy-to-use interface with variable levels of user customization. Upon logging in as administrator, users are allowed to choose between four preset options of protection levels based on the age group. The available options are: children from zero to seven, pre-teens, teens and adults, with the level of protection being highest for the first and gradually lowering down.

 

User Log Chart

User Log Chart

 

 

A complete family summary is charted out on the main screen that allows quick modification for all existing users that are being monitored. User customization for separate functions is available with individual tabs. For example, the Social Networking tab allows administrators an option to input personal information (like Street address, school name, cell phone) that needs to be monitored. Overall, it offers a very simplistic UI, which could prove helpful for novices. 

 

Features

The McAfee Family Protection software’s primary task is to block adult content, cyber bullying, contact with strangers and objectionable YouTube videos. In addition to that, it also offers social network monitoring, instant message reporting, email alerting and setting time limits. The software allows blocking of up to 35 categories of objectionable websites at a time, as well as recording instant messaging to inform administrators in the event of conversations with strangers. Chatting on social networking sites is also recorded in case of solicitation from strangers or posting of confidential information.

Settings and customizations

Settings and customizations

 

 

 

The software offers monitoring support for AOL, ICQ, Microsoft Windows Messenger and Yahoo Messenger. Currently, there is no option to supervise Google Chat or Skype. Security threats, most often found in peer-to-peer file sharing softwares can be blocked. Activity reports provide a complete view of all Internet and IM activity, which can be used as a tool to teach appropriate online behaviour. Along with the above options, the McAfee Family Protection software allows automated email reception in case access to an inappropriate website is attempted.

 

Performance

Upon installation, the software utilizes very little system resources (12 MB on the task manager) and requires an initial 10 MB of hard disk space. To start off, we created four different levels of monitoring based on age groups. The software worked brilliantly with the preset customizations that it provided. Email blocking, YouTube videos blocking, website filtering - all of it worked seamlessly. However, user customization started throwing up a few problems.

 

Extreme monitoring: YouTube blocked

Extreme monitoring: YouTube blocked

 

 

Access to Gmail was blocked even after changing the option via the administrator’s profile. We tried another alternative: switching between users to check the speed of response of the software. The transition was slow as websites, which got unblocked took around a minute to load. This could be a downer for people wanting fast Internet access. Besides, the software started popping up a few annoying notifications at regular intervals. On the other hand, in case any user besides the administrator tries to initiate a log out from the session, internet access is cut off, unless the user logs in again. This provides for complete parental control.

 

Verdict:

The McAfee Family Protection Plan is available at Rs. 2,270 with support for up to 3 PCs. The price could be a little steep for home users as it does not include any antivirus or firewall for protection from viruses. So, most users will have to purchase a separate antivirus software, which could cost a few extra thousand bucks. It might be a little on the expensive side, but if monitoring content is a priority, this product could well be worth considering. 


Tags:

Software , Windows , McAfee , McAfee Family Protection , Monitoring , YouTube monitoring , IM monitoring

Would you buy it?




Vete a la Versh - Temporada 1, Episodio 3_ Marochan

19 Mar, 2009, 12:13 am IST

Vete a la Versh - Temporada 1, Episodio ...

Pilot

08 Jan, 2008, 08:48 am IST

Pilot

Lego Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

24 Nov, 2011, 11:33 pm IST

Lego Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

Oh, Hayabusa! (Halo 3 Noob Song)

08 Nov, 2009, 08:09 pm IST

Oh, Hayabusa! (Halo 3 Noob Song)

 


How We Test

The Tech2 Labs receives many products every single week and each of them is tested with the utmost care and highest level of objectivity. There’s a constant effort to reduce and totally eliminate subjectivity. Each product is tested according to set test processes so the same test scenario is used.

Verdict
The ratings awarded to a product are derived from a number of tests and calculations, keeping certain important factors in mind. These factors consist of features, performance, quality and value for money. In case of software and some other categories, build quality might be replaced with ease of use or ease of installation. Products are compared with other products in a similar price range or product category.


Features
The features component of the score is rated based on the kind of features present on a particular product. Features are a big part of what people look for when they’re buying a new product such as a phone or a camera.

Performance
The performance score is derived from the benchmarks and tests run on the product. In case of the subjective scores, an average of the scores given by the group of reviewers is considered.

Build Quality
The build quality of a product is important so that it doesn’t fall apart after some use. The build quality scores from the way the product is designed and the kind of materials used in the product.

Value
Value for money comes from the fact that a cheap product is able to provide most of the performance of a higher priced product. Once again, value for money is judged by comparing pricing and performance of products in a particular price range or category. 

There are many other aspects of the product that are looked at such as the bundled software and accessories. All of these scores are aggregated together to form the final score.

What do the ratings mean?

Ratings are simple - higher the score, the better the product. A brief listing of the features and what they mean are given below.

1 - 3

The product is bad in almost every aspect. We strongly advise against purchasing this product.

4 - 6

An average product that isn't the best you can buy, but isn't the worst either.

7 - 8

Product with this rating is highly recommended because it's priced sensibly, has a good set of features and performs well.

9 - 10

Exceptionally excellent product with features and performance unlike any we've seen in the past. A must-have for everyone!

What is the Average User Rating?

We at Tech2 take product reviewing very seriously and every product is tested with the utmost care and level of objectivity. The end user who buys a particular product and uses it over an extended period of time has his own take on a product and there might be nuances that he or she can shed light on. The Average User Rating is present to help readers get the complete picture of how good or bad a product is. The Average User Rating is calculated by averaging the ratings by the thousands of readers visiting Tech2.com every single day. To record your own rating of a product, simply click on the user rating bar. If you disagree with our ratings or our community's product rating, please don't hesitate from voicing your opinion in the comments section below the review.

Leaked Images, Availability, Pricing,
Specs, Pre-order

LG X Boom CM9730 Video Review

LG X Boom CM9730 Video Review

21 May, 2013, 05:42 AM

Samsung Galaxy S4 Video Review

Samsung Galaxy S4 Video Review

14 May, 2013, 11:30 AM

4.8

HP ElitePad 900 Video Review

HP ElitePad 900 Video Review

14 May, 2013, 11:24 AM

2.5

MORE VIDEOS

How to: Bring your Windows operating system up to speed

How to: Bring your Windows operating system up to speed

We bring you a handful of useful tips and tricks to get more out of your...

By Team Tech2

Office 2013 vs Office 365: Should you buy or subscribe?

Office 2013 vs Office 365: Should you buy or subscribe?

Pirated or legal, the vast majority of us use Microsoft Office. It’s...

By Jamshed Avari

Being anonymous on the web

Being anonymous on the web

Methods to implement to hide your IP address whilst on the Internet

By Francis D'sa

MORE FEATURES

LAVA iris 455 Review

Rupali Panchadhaye

Wed May 22, 15:03:37

MORE DISCUSSIONS